The Hindu : Sport / Football : Tamil Nadu whips Tripura; Gujarat holds Karnataka

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Sunday, Sep 24, 2006
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Tamil Nadu whips Tripura; Gujarat holds Karnataka

Special Correspondent

FARIDABAD: Tamil Nadu played true to reputation in whipping Tripura 4-0 in a Cluster VIII match of the National football championship for Santosh Trophy at the Sector 12 Sports Complex here on Saturday.

The match was possible once again due to the ground staff that worked through the night to make playing conditions fit for a competitive fixture. The ground had been rendered unplayable on Friday due to showers, which left the field waterlogged.

The star pair of Raman Vijayan and K. Kulothungan played havoc with Tripura to dominate the contest all the way. In the 22nd minute, Tamil Nadu took the lead through J. Ouxiano. That was the only goal in the first half but Tamil Nadu scored with precision on resumption.

Vijayan slotted a goal two minutes into the second half and scored again 20 minutes later. In between Kulothungan rocked Tripura with a neat effort in the 63rd minute.

Jharkhand, Uttaranchal draw

In the same cluster, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal shared two goals and points. In a keen contest, Jharkhand forged ahead in the 22nd minute when Budhram Soren scored with a thumping top of the box right footer to beat Uttaranchal goalkeeper Hanuman Rawat all ends up. Uttaranchal equalised 16 minutes into the second half through an opportunistic goal by Rakesh Shah.

In a cluster VII match between Railways and Orissa, which was abandoned on Friday due to heavy rains, the institutional side took full points through P. Vinoy's 13th minute strike that was the lone goal of the match played at Nahar Singh Stadium complex.

Our Principal Correspondent from Gurgaon adds

Underdog Gujarat played an over-defensive game and held better-rated Karnataka to a goalless draw at the Gurgaon Sports Complex.

In the three-team Cluster VI, Saturday's draw left Karnataka in a difficult position, though not all was lost. Nagaland is the third team in the group.

"Gujarat played very well to thwart our strategy. We didn't get any chance to create space as Gujarat played very tight game," said a disappointed Karnataka coach, Thyagaraj.

Striker D. Raju wasted at least four chances in the second half as a desperate Karnataka tried in v ain to get an opening. "There was very little combination and understanding between the half-backs and forwards which cost us crucial points," said Thyagaraj.

A setback

With at least four players who play for the national side including N.S. Manju, the result was a setback for Karnataka.

Xavier Vijaya Kumar was the key player who created several chances, but the forward line squandered through poor clearances.

"Our strategy of playing 4-4-2 combination paid off and I am happy with the result," said the Gujarat coach Pious Abraham.

Gujarat next plays Nagaland on Monday and will look to score as many goals to put Karnataka into a tight situation.

"It has been two decades since we played in the quarterfinal league of Santosh Trophy, but after having drawn against Karnataka we hope to break the jinx," Abraham said.

Four minutes before close, Gujarat gave a real scare to Karnataka when Narendra Bhandari and Yuvraj Ram Singh Pun attacked the rival post.

Sunday's fixtures: At Faridabad: Delhi v Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir v Railways. At Gurgaon: Manipur v Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh v Chhattisgarh.

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